Danisha Patel and Zodwa Maphanga Through to Women’s Doubles Round of 32

South Africa’s Danisha Patel and Zodwa Maphanga will look forward to their next encounter as they progressed to the Women’s Doubles Round of 32, after Day 1 of the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals in Durban on Saturday, 20 May 2023.

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Patel and Maphanga earned a walk over, after their opponents Papua New Guinea’s Tammi Agari and Vanuata’s Tracy Mawa did not honour their fixture.

The South African duo were awarded a 3-0 win.

In other matches of the day, 21-year-old Musfiquh Kalam succumbed to a 4-0 defeat against Puerto Rico’s Melanie Diaz.

Patel joined teammate Chetan Nathoo in the Mixed Doubles Round of 64 event, where they went up agains t Chinese duo, Lin Shidong and Kuai Man. As much as the duo of the host nation put up a fight on the table, it was not enough as they suffered a 3-0 loss.

253-seed Zodwa Maphanga went head-to-head against Germany’s Nina Mittelham in what was a tough battle for the South African, who eventually lost 4-0 in the Women’s Singles Round of 128.

Results: ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals 2023 on Saturday, 20 May

Women’s Singles – Round of 128:

Melanie Diaz 4 (11, 11, 11, 11)
Musfiquh Kalam 0 (2, 6, 8, 5)

Nina Mittelham 4 (11, 11, 11, 11)
Zodwa Maphanga 0 (1, 7, 5, 4)

Women’s Doubles – Round of 64 

Tracy Mawa/Tammi Agari 0 (0, 0, 0)
Zodwa Maphanga/Danisha Patel 3 (11, 11, 11)

Mixed Doubles – Round of 64

Danisha Patel/Chetan Nathoo 0 (5, 4, 4)
Lin Shidong/Kuai Man 3 (11, 11, 11)

Fixtures: ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals 2023 on Sunday, 21 May

Women’s Singles – Round of 128
10h40: 

Danisha Patel
Miyu Nagasaki

Mixed Doubles – Round of 64
18h30:

Aidos Kenzhigulov/Zauresh Akasheva
Theo Cogill/Zodwa Maphanga

Women’s Doubles – Round of 64
18h30

Musfiquh Kalam/Lailaa Edwards
Elizabeth Samara/Andrea Dragoman

Photo 1 Caption: South Africa’s Zodwa Maphanga in action at the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals at the Durban ICC on Saturday, 21 May 2023. Photo: WTT (Instagram)